Abomination: beginnings

Submitted by: curtis

The following is a short story submitted by curtis

ABOMINATION : beginnings

The
sun peeks through the clouds on a hot July day in the Colorado
mountains, as slivers of sunlight dance on small waves across the top
of the lake. A teenage boy lays lifeless on the shore with his
tattered baseball cap pulled down over his face. His hands lie
across his chest, fingers interlaced. A fishing pole is propped up
on a rock, and a bobber floats gently in the water. The wind rustles
through the tops of the tall aspens that surround the lake and the
small teardrop shaped leaves twinkle as they twist.

Dry leaves crunch as a young man walks toward the boy. Dressed in a
shirt and tie with slacks rolled up over his tennis shoes, he stops
at the boy’s side and looks down at him.

“Curtis”
the young man shouts.

Curtis
jumps and scrambles to pull his ball cap off of his face. “What.
Who is…Jacob? Man, I was having a good dream. What do you
want?” Curtis says with disgust.

“Sunday
is supposed to be a day of rest,” Curtis explains as he stands
up and brushes himself off. “So I was resting, and getting a
little fishing in while I was at it.”

“Did
you catch anything?”

“No,
but I tried hard.”

“Yeah,
I saw.”

Curtis
chuckles as he picks up his fishing pole and reels it in. The two
boys head for their car trying the whole way to shove each other into
a tree. They climb into an old beat up truck and slam the squeaky
doors.

“So
how’s college?” Curtis asks.

Jacob
grunts. “It’s alright. I’m just glad it’s
over.”

“When
did you get back?”

“Last
night. Where were you?”

“I
was out setting traps to keep our store stocked. Are you going to
help me with it now that you’re back?” Curtis looked at
his brother with an almost desperate look. “Cause you know,
dad has kinda taken over since you left.”

Jacob
cracks a smile, “yes I’ll run the store and you can trap.
But you have to keep the store stocked with good pelts. I won’t
be in there trying to pawn off some cheap rabbit and squirrel skins.”

Curtis
breathes a sigh of relief and leans back in the seat. “You
know me. When have I ever brought back cheap pelts?”

When
the boys reach the house, their father meets them at the door. He
stands just over six feet tall and salt and pepper hair sits atop his
rugged face. His shirt is tight across his strong body as he stands
in the doorway with a disgusted look on his face.

“Where
have you been?” he says as Curtis cowers through the door.

“I
was at the lake.” Curtis replies, trying to avoid eye contact.

“You
were supposed to go to church with us. Your brother just got back
from school yesterday and we were supposed to go to church as a
family.”

“Well
I didn’t know Jacob was coming home.”

“I
told you last week. And you said you would go”

Curtis
struggles, without success, to remember that conversation, but hoping
to end the tongue-lashing, he apologizes.

“Go
get cleaned up. Your mom has lunch ready.”

Few
words are spoken to Curtis at the table. He keeps his eyes on his
plate and eats quietly thinking that maybe they won’t notice
him if he stays silent.

After
lunch the two boys go out to the garage so Curtis can show his
brother all of his traps. The boys talk for hours about their store,
and how rich they’re going to be. The conversation lasts until
the sun begins to fade into the horizon.

Curtis
jumps up, wide eyed, “oh man,” he exclaims. “I
forgot to set my traps. We sat here talking so long that it slipped
my mind. I’ll see ya later.” Curtis grabs a handful of
traps and runs out the door.

“Alright
man. I’ll see you when you get home. Be careful,” Jacob
shouts.

Curtis
laughs. “You know me,” he yells back as he jumps into
the old pick-up and drives as fast as he can toward the forest.

Just
after sunset, Curtis arrives at one of his favorite trapping spots.
He slams the truck into park and jumps out. Grabbing his handful of
traps, he sprints off through the woods. As he gets closer to where
he plans on setting his traps, he stops running and assumes a quieter
pace. Gently he begins setting his traps. With only half-a-dozen
traps, he knows this won’t be a very productive night.

As
Curtis sets the last of his traps, he hears one of them go off. The
sound surprises him, because although he is being as quiet as he can,
wild animals are very skittish and they have outstanding hearing. He
sneaks through the trees to see what he caught. What he sees is not
what he expects.

Huge,
black and lifeless it lies in the moonlight. The shadows from the
trees cloak the animal’s true form, so Curtis moves closer.
Still it lies motionless. Curtis knows that it can’t be dead,
because the trap he used couldn’t have killed anything this
big. He creeps closer. No breath, no motion. It just lies there.
For some reason, even though he knows better, Curtis reaches out and
touches it.

It’s
as though Curtis’ touch brings it to life. The animal spins
around and brings him to the ground. Curtis tries to yell for help
as the animal digs its claws into his shoulder, but when he hit the
ground it knocked the air from his lungs. He knows that even if he
could yell, he is so far into the woods, no one could hear. The
beast leans over Curtis and stares him in the eyes. Curtis knows at
that moment that he is the one that got trapped. The animal bends
down and sinks its teeth into Curtis’ arm. He tries to scream.
He tries to move. Claws and teeth sink further into his flesh.

A
shotgun blast. The beast flinches. It pulls its teeth from Curtis’
arm and looks through the trees. A horrible growl seeps from the
beast. Blood and drool drip from razor sharp teeth onto Curtis’
face. Another shotgun blast. The animal yelps. That shot hits it
in the face. As the beast turns to run away, its claws tear open
Curtis’ shoulder. And then he hears the most wonderful sound
he has ever heard – his brothers voice.

Jacob
bandages the wounds as best he can, and rushes Curtis to the
hospital. Surgeons feverishly slave over Curtis, trying to repair
his shoulder and arm. After four and a half hours of surgery, the
doctors leave an unconscious Curtis lying on an operating table and
inform his parents that, aside from some major scaring, he will be
fine.

In a hospital bed, Curtis lies comatose for nearly a week. Horrible
visions of brutal murders run through his mind. Can-can girls and
cowboys, hippies and beatniks are ripped to pieces in his dreams. He
sees through the eyes of the killer as if he were the one killing.
He tries to stop it, he tries to control it, but it continues. The
monster in his dreams is driven by savage instinct. No logic, no
compassion.

After five days Curtis opens his eyes. Wide eyed he looks around the
room wondering if this is another dream. Jacob is sleeping in a
chair in the corner. When Curtis sees Jacob, a sense of relief
floods over him.

“Jacob” Curtis says in a raspy voice.

Jacob twitches and opens his eyes slowly. He looks around the room
to see who called his name. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he
repositions himself to go back to sleep. As he shifts around in the
chair Jacob glances at Curtis.

“You’re awake!” Jacob yells as he jumps up. “I
have to call mom and dad.”

“Jacob, shhhhhh.” Curtis grabs his head and lays back,
“quiet, bro. My head is killing me.”

“Oh, sorry. I just got excited.”

Jacob picks up the phone and calls their parents. Curtis can here
his moms screams of excitement through the phone even though he is
six feet away. Jacob says good-bye and hangs up.

“They’re on their way,” Jacob says as he turns to
his brother. “Mom’s a little excited.”

“Yeah, I heard,” Curtis says weakly. “How long
have I been out?”

“Five days. How do you feel?”

“Horrible, but at least I’m awake now. I’ve had
the worst dreams.”

Jacob pulls his chair up next to Curtis’ bed as the bloody
stories are told. Curtis tells how in his dreams he was driven by
instinct and rage. No mercy, no fear, and no control. Jacob advises
Curtis not to tell anyone about his dreams.

“What was it, Jacob?”

“I don’t know. I tracked it the morning after I got you
to the hospital. I found where it bled out, but there was nothing
there. I searched well beyond where an animal with that much blood
loss could have gone – and found nothing,” Jacob says
with concern in his eyes.

When the boy’s parents arrive, their mother feverishly and
hysterically tries to make Curtis comfortable until Jacob and his
father calm her down. Curtis has to promise that until the animal is
caught, he won’t go into the woods by himself, and one of them
has to carry a gun. But a forced promise isn’t much of a
promise.

Curtis heals up quickly as most nineteen year olds do and goes home.
He stays in bed as long as he can stand then goes about his business
of repairing and cleaning his traps until he rips a stitch. His mom
fixes his bandages and makes him get back in bed, and the cycle
repeats. This goes on for a week, until Curtis’ mom gets tired
of trying to keep him in bed.

Jacob and his father continue night after night hunting the animal
that attacked Curtis, and night after night they return unsuccessful.

“Let me go with you,” Curtis pleads one day.

“No way, Curtis. Dad would kill me if he found out I took you
back out there.”

“Come on, Jacob. You know I’m better at tracking than
you. I’ll just go look, and maybe set a few traps.”

“No, Curtis. If you go out, dad will have to take you.”

Curtis throws his hands in the air, “fine. I’ll go ask
dad then.”

Curtis pleads and bargains for nearly two days before his dad agrees
to take him. He is as excited as a kindergartener on his first field
trip. Running into the garage, Curtis grabs a handful of traps and
throws them into the back of the truck.

“What are you doing?” Jacob asks as he steps into the
garage.

“Dad said I could go tonight. I’m getting ready,”
Curtis replies. A grin stretches across his face.

“I don’t think he meant you could go trapping,”
Jacob grabs his shotgun off the wall and holds it up. “We’re
trying to kill it, not trap it.”

“But we can trap it, then kill it,” the smile fades from
Curtis’ face. “I’m taking them with me.”

“We’ll see,” Jacob says smugly as he walks out of
the garage.

Curtis kicks the truck and spits toward the door. He has been in a
hospital bed for a week and cooped up in the house for just as long.
He finally has permission to do what he enjoys, and he’s not
going to let anyone stop him.

As the sun begins to fade, the boys load the truck for their hunt.
The old truck spits and sputters when they start it, and with a boom
and a cloud of grey smoke the sputtering stops and the engine
smoothes out.

The truck pulls out of the garage as their mother stands at the front
door of the house with a concerned look on her face. She waves as
she watches her husband and two boys drive away.

Their night is uneventful other than the fox that Curtis caught, and
they ride back to the house in disappointment. Curtis feels torn,
because although they didn’t catch what they were looking for,
he did catch something. They pull into the garage and pile out.
Jacob and his dad head into the house while Curtis drags the fox out
of the back and begins skinning it. He feels alive again; finally
back to doing what he loves.

After several weeks of hunting what can’t be found, Jacob and
his dad loose interest, and the promise that Curtis made is
forgotten. Curtis continues going out to trap hoping to catch the
illusive animal that attacked him.

One night, Curtis goes into the woods to set his traps. He sets the
last of them as the sun turns red and edges its way down behind the
mountain. Finding a comfortable spot, Curtis sits down and waits for
his traps to spring. He looks up through the trees at the full moon
and the sun disappears.

Curtis’ skin begins to get hot. His bones ache and his head
starts throbbing. Confused, he looks down at his arms and sees thick
black hair growing. The pain continues to grow, so he decides he
should get home and come back for his traps later. When he stands
up, it feels as if his skin bursts into flame. He yells and falls to
his knees. His bones feel like they are breaking and his blood
boils. His ribs all burst from their place at the same time, and his
knees snap. His joints dislocate as he screams into the night. His
mind fades and his senses heighten. Logic is replaced by instinct
and rage. Muscles tear away from bone and reattach as the joints
slam themselves back together. His hands and feet feel like they are
crushed as the bones burst apart and then rejoin. Curtis breathes
heavily as the pain fades. He opens his eyes and peers through the
trees. A hunger grows inside, but not for food – for blood.
As he catches the scent of prey he looks up at the moon and howls.

He races through the woods on all fours until he comes upon his prey.
The deer doesn’t have time to react before the claws of the
werewolf tear into its flesh. Curtis – now a lycan –
tears the deer to pieces. He feasts on the meat and laps its blood,
gorging until there is nothing left to eat. He roams the forest all
night looking for more prey, killing everything that crosses his path
- until sunrise.

The beast sees the light grow in the east, and he stares in defiance.
The sun peeks above the horizon and the animal howls. His blood
boils and his skin burns. Joints dislocate and muscle tears from
their place. His brain feels as if it is going to burst through his
eyes. Bones crack and pop and slam into place as they change size
and shape. His knees snap and his hands and feet crackle as they
return to their original shape.

Curtis falls to the ground and passes out with his face in the dirt.
Naked and alone he lies in the woods, his only covering is the blood
of the animals he slaughtered. He awakens as his dad rolls him over
and picks him up.

“No. Stay away from me,” Curtis yells as he scrambles
out of his fathers arms. “Stay away. I don’t want to
hurt you.”

“Curtis, you had a rough night,” Jacob puts his arm
around Curtis. “Let’s go home. we’ll talk about
it later.”

The three of them make their way back through the woods to the car.
Jacob pulls a blanket from the trunk for Curtis to cover himself
with. Curtis drapes the blanket over his shoulders and climbs into
the back seat to go to sleep.

“I’ll go get the truck,” Jacob’s dad tells
him. “You get him home and cleaned up. And keep it quiet. I
don’t want your mom to worry any more than she needs to.”

Jacob gets in and starts the car. After he shuts the door he looks
in the rearview mirror, “what happened last night, Curtis?”

“I turned into a werewolf. I remember an overwhelming desire
to kill. It was brutal. I couldn’t control it. That’s
why we couldn’t find the other one, because he turned into a
human and walked away.”

“That sounds like one of those dreams you told me about.”

“Yeah, except it wasn’t a dream. It happened. And if
the movies are right, it will happen every full moon for the rest of
my life,” Curtis lays his head down and falls asleep.

And it does happen. Every full moon, Curtis changes into a werewolf.
I wish this was a movie I saw, or a book I read, I’d even
settle for a bad dream. But this is my story - I am Curtis. My
brother didn’t believe me at first, but after I came home and
told him I had killed someone, he helped me build a cage strong
enough to hold me. Now once a month I spend the night in a steel
cage howling at the moon. Without my brother, who knows how many
people I would have killed by now.

My life ended on that night. I have no friends, because although I
am in my thirties now, I still look like I am nineteen. It’s
hard for people to understand why they get grey hair and wrinkles but
I still look like a teenager. The only people I have contact with
are my family and a blind, old pastor who keeps telling me that God
loves me just the way I am – if he only knew.

So if you’re in the woods, late at night, and the moon is full
– run. Run as hard as you can, because I may be coming. And
if I catch you, pray that you are lucky enough to die, because if you
don’t, you’ll end up like me. Cursed. An abomination.

She Wolf Of Chicago: An Interview by AL J. Vermette

Submitted by: darkwriter2000

She-wolf of Chicago

By AL J. Vermette

When night falls and the moon is high she hits the streets in search of prey. With long savage claws and ripping teeth this She-wolf is on the prowl, but its not human flesh she seeks tonight, but a good time. She’s out to show off one of the best werewolf suits ever created outside of Hollywood itself. For this she-wolf is artist Melita Curphy and she…yeah that’s right boys (SHE) is the creator of the werewolf suit that you see before you. A woman after my own heart who is so into werewolves that she herself (made) her own werewolf fur suit. Now how cool is that? And this is no cute fuzzy little critter, nor is it sexy and all chicked out but one scary ass creature who looks like it will rip your head off. But when this she-wolf dose go out, she is a hit at all party’s events and conventions and any other place this big black wolf goes. The moment I first s aw Mel’s wolf on WerewolfCafe.com I just knew I had to get an interview with her. Its damn good to know that werewolf lovers are not just a boys only club anymore. Mel you rock girl!!!

Al: When did you first discover your love for werewolves?

Mel: I'm not sure where i first saw werewolves but I remember being really fascinated by them since i was pret ty young. I remember being really into anima l/human hybrid type characters as a kid with all the bizarre cartoons and games that were coming out in the early 80's... i guess I should blame Thunder cats, haha. I do remember seeing American Werewolf in London and The Howling and thinking how awesome it would be to be able to turn into a monster. I was never afraid of werewolves, Freddy Krueger and Jason, I feared. I just really wanted to be a werewolf. I got in big trouble with my mom for drawing werewolves all over some church pamphlets during service on sunday when i was about 8 or 9. They worried about my monster obsession a little being hardcore Christians. I think for awhile they thought i was going to grow up and join a satanic cult or something. I was just a weird kid is all, haha

Al: The werewolf head and suit you created is just amazing, how did you make it?

Mel: Thanks! I used a plaster mask and built up foam and celluclay over it. Then made the jaw and hinged it to move. Then just covered that in fur and trimmed it to look realistic and added longer hair to the mane and stuff. The teeth are made from sculpey which I actually don't recommend using just because it's pretty heavy and brittle. Someone got really careless with the head once and allowed it to drop off of a chair into the floor...one of the teeth flew off. I was so pissed, I had to be at a costume contest in an hour. So yeah, sculpey isn't a great choice, haha. I'll be using plastic or something next time...

Al: How long did it take to make your werewolf and what was it like creating it.

Mel: Well, I started the head a few years ago. I wanted to try to top my demon costume I had built in 2005 so i began the werewolf. However, a few things came up such as relocating to the other side of the country and it got put on the backburner. Being a freelancer i literally can't afford to put much time into non paying or personal work so the poor werewolf was ignored for awhile. Then I finally got the costume bug again and started to build it again last fall. I'd say if i could work on it every day all at once, I could have had it ready in about a month, maybe a few weeks. However from the very start to the very end, it took me about a year and a half, haha! Creating it was both fun and horrible. It got really hot up in my little attic studio and fake fur was everywhere. I think the worst part was severely burning myself with hot glue. I still have two scars on my arm that I’m actually kin d of proud of...they make me think of my costume. It hurt like crazy though. I also hated getting discouraged when certain parts didn’t' look right and having to redo them. But you can't let that stuff get you down...you have to follow through and keep plugging away until it looks right. However, the first time I tried20on the head my heart jumped...i was so happy20with it and was so excited to see my hard work turn into something pretty awesome!

Al: Where do you go when you become the werewolf?

Mel: I usually go to conventions with it, though i did think about wearing it to a concert. The band had werewolves on their album cover but i re thought it and figured it would be too nerdy and strange. Plus drunk people and costumes in a small space is always a terrible idea. Although I did wear it to my group show gallery opening here in Chicago and had things go just fine. People got20a kick out of it and it was like wearing my own art. I had also wanted to nerd it up and take it to the ren fair but it's far too hot to do so. Plus it's tough to drink mead in that thing...

Al: I bet you are the hit at all costume party's and the like.

Mel: Yeah I do okay, haha! People at costume parties had great reactions this past year and a lot of funny photos have been taken. There's one of me playing Guitar Hero at our Halloween party we hosted...though i can't actually play well because of the oversize claws. Funny story though: I entered my first costume contest last october at a bar here in Chicago. The audience loved me but I lost out to some dork in a store bought Sloth mask from the Goonies. Ugh, come on guys...

Al: How do peop le react to you when you are in the suit?

Mel: I get a lot of great reactions in it. Mostly "hey bro! Nice costume!" or "hey wolfman!!" or they howl at me which is cute. Haha, everyone assumes I'm a man. Some people have actually asked my bo yfriend, when he's wrangling me, if he made it. He says "no my girlfreind made it. That's a HER." Then they freak out so hard and scream " YOURE A GIRL? AND YOU MADE T HAT?" . I guess most people assume that if you are a girl, you have to wear sexy costumes or that girls don't build monsters. I enjoy changing their mind. It's funny because people either get way into it or go out of their way to ignore it. It seems to be a hipster thing like "if I don't look at it, it won't come over here and make me look uncool" or something. But I can see them stealing glances. Other people want to shake my hand or hug me. I'm actually a pretty friendly werewolf...although when i make kids or even adults scream i LOVE it. It's kind of perverse but i really like being someone's monster and getting a real, honest fearful reaction. Some full grown women have refused t o come near me...so of course i chase them. However, if a kid goes into total meltdown i will leave or act scared or try to win them over with a high five. Some people act like jackasses and pull my fur or grab my tail..it's mostly older women or frat boys that do that stuff. I try to always have a wrangler to watch out for me and make sure i don't get hurt or damaged. Sometimes women hit on me which is so ridiculous...i love to burst their bubble and tell them I’m a woman, haha. I did hand out candy in my old neighborhood as the werewolf. SO much fun, kids got really, really freaked and one had to be dragged from his hiding place by his hood. A few people had dogs and the dogs got very, very upset with me. Glad they were on leashes, i think i would have been in a little trouble...

Al: What other creatures have you created as well?

Mel: I also have a demon suit i built. She is made of foam and celluclay and has a full set of leather armor that i made. She's also got hooves and digitigrade legs that are similar to the wolf's. Her head got stolen last spring so now I am working on a new, better head with help from some SFX friends.

Al: As an artist, what other methods of work do you work in other then creature design?

Mel: I also make clothing and costume accessories like jewelry or armor pieces. I also paint and sculpt all kinds of fantasy/graphic type stuff but...yeah it's mostly monsters, really.

Al: Where was the craziest place you took the werewolf to for fun?

Mel: Hmmm, I haven’t gone anywhere too nuts with the werewolf yet. I guess a bar would be the craziest place though it was a tame time. Although I did go as the demon to see Brendan Small of Dethklok go play before he was big. It was at a smaller bar in Austin during SXSW and people either loved me or did the hipster ignore thing. I thought it was pretty f-ing metal to have an armored demon show up to see Dethklok music but whatever. I ended up getting photographed with a group of super skinny high heeled bikini models for something or other....it was an odd nig ht. If i was gay or a guy I guess that would have been pretty awesome, haha. The models all thought it was neat that a girl was in the demon suit.

Al: What are your all time most loved werewolf movies?

Mel: Hands down , American Werewolf in London. Best looking werewolf, the face of that thing is so INTENSE and angry!! Best, most realistic transformation sequence...I loved that they actually took comparative canine/human anatomy into consideration. It was funny and fun and gross and had a tragic ending...I love it so much. The sequel they made to that was terrible though, ugh. The werewolves looked like feral hog-monkeys and they even managed to mess up the transformation sequence when the chick is changing in the sewer. I'm pretty sure they made her knee bend backwards because they didn't understand digitigrade anatomy and then somehow she grew another knee in the middle of her thigh, it made no sense at all. It's been years since i saw that movie so maybe I'm wrong...but i remember being really pissed about that. Haha, sorry to nerd out ,there...I was just so let down. Dog soldiers is pretty cool too and i do kind of like Ginger Snaps, it was an odd one. There really arent many good werewolf movies out there. I liked the way the Van Helsing werewolves transformed, with ripping off their human skin .but the movie overall was pretty ugh. The Underworld werewolves were also fun to look at but I hate to admit it, i can't stand those movies, haha...

Al: For anyone out there reading this, what would you say to them if they too would like to build their own werewolf or any creature suit?

Mel: I'd say go for it!! We need more good monster costumes out there. No offense but I see so many costumes that are just copies of already existing characters. I respect the technical ability it takes but I also like to see original character monster type stuff. Just go make something up and have fun! Costuming is a blast! If you make something over the top, make sure you have a handler, someone to watch you and keep you safe from overexcited people.

Al: What other creature&n bsp;do you have on the drawing board next that you would like to see brought to life as a full size costume?

Mel: Right now I plan to get the second version of the demon head ready. After that, I may create a suit of a monster in a Victorian styled suit and bowler hat or some sort of made up post apocalyptic mutant costume that's not so heavy and tough on my body. Less fur and foam, the better!

Al: And Lastly, what's next for your werewolf and oh by the way dose the creature have a name?

Mel: I ‘m afraid he might be retired soon. I just wore him at comic con and while he was loved very much by the crowd, he's just so dangerously hot. I should have installed a fan or a cooling system but it's too late. I'd rather move on to something else for now, maybe bring him out for certain conventions or events. I will probably mount his head for display. He doesn't have a name, he's just sort of a standard werewolf. I just call him the Wolf.

WritingWulf's 4th Birthday Poem

All this time
Building, waiting, wanting
Sitting in that room
Writing sweet wishes of the night
An empty feeling that never goes away
Stalking me in those dreams of a life that should be mine

I feel it deep inside

I wake
A single drop of cold sliding down my face
It was there again
Swinging through the darkness
Flashing with silver glinted teeth
Nails long and hooked
Eyes with a wonder of the night and moon
It was me
I was it

I feel it deep inside
I want it out

Why do they annoy me
Why do I annoy them
They walk this earth in front of me
Sneering at my thoughts
Laughing at my dreams
Anger pulses and quickens my heart
Muscles feel like they should be bigger
Body feeling wrong
This isn't me
A life not of mine is flung out the window
Discarded for another

I feel it deep inside
I want it out
I need it

I look into the sky
Stars bright
Life's ceiling dark
My sweet Mother Moon looking down upon me
A cold tear falls
Why can't they just feel it like I
I look up at life
A new feeling
If they don't want me
Why do I stay

I feel it deep inside
I want it out
I need it
It awakens

I launch from my roof
Landing on four legs
This, this is what I wanted
I run through the trees
The wind grasping me
Telling me it was waiting for me
The dew in the fresh atmosphere
It fills my lungs and says
Live

I feel it deep inside
I want it out
I need it
It awakens
I am what I needed to be

Claws scrape rocks and grip on dirt
Fur dances along my body to the song of Mother Moon
It makes sense now
This is all worth it
Any pain worthy of going through
To feel the wind's embrace
Your body not half anymore
Your soul no longer trapped
I stop along the hill that over looks the forest
Lungs fill with scents of nature
Cold only being a comfort through my body
I look up

I feel it deep inside
I want it out
I need it
It awakens
I am what I needed to be
I see my Soul's Horizon

Bucking Bull "Werewolf"

Submitted by: Full Moon

A thank you goes out to Laura Naccarato for these autographed items from Naccarato Bucking Bulls which is the home of the famous bucking bull "Werewolf" (also known as "Werewolf Snuff"). Werewolf has been a bucking bull at past Professional Bull Riders (PBR) events (PBR Bull ID is FUA69). Thank you so much Laura!

Werewolf The Series

On Its 20th Anniversary

The year was 1987 as a new broadcasting network was getting ready to launch over the free air waves in the spring of that year. The new channel was the FOX network, a new up-start channel and the first one to debut nation wide in almost 30 years. The good people at the new network which over lapped the local stations was looking for new and wonderful new shows to air in their eight to Ten spot each night starting with the weekend time slot. Among the TV shows for this hungry new network some of which would become legends as others would land in TV land abyss never to be heard from again. Shows like "Married With Children," "21 Jump Street" (which brought the world a young Johnny Demp) "Duet" and "The Tracy Ullman Show" (Where "The Simpsons" made their TV debut before getting their own show and are still on the air 20 years later. Among the new weekend lineup was a little horror genre show that made a big impact with its one season run from July 11th 1987 to May 1988. The show was "Werewolf" and for its true diehard fans (Like Me) we have never forgotten it over the last 20 years.

"Werewolf" followed the story of a young collage student named Eric Cord played by John J. York who was the all American boy before being bitten by a werewolf who was also his roommate and best friend. Now young Eric becomes a monster soon after the bleeding pentagram appears in his right hand setting off the transformation into the werewolf. After having sadly killed his friend in the attack Eric is now wanted for murder and goes on the run endlessly in search of the werewolf who turned his buddy into a werewolf in hopes by killing him it will end the bloodline of the beast and free him of the curse. But our young lycanthrope as he hunts the evil werewolf Skorzeny is hunted himself by an unstoppable bounty hunter who knows what Eric becomes nightly and dose so with silver bullets.

The show made its world debut on FOX with a two hour movie which gave intro to all the main players and then followed up with 29 episodes running just one year. The show played out in the same vain as the past shows "The Fugitive" and "The Incredible Hulk" with Eric moving from town to town meeting new people and getting involve in their life before like in the case of the Hulk he would turn into the creature within him and in some cases help the needy and unlike the Hulk kill the evil. Eric’s good nature would for the most part keep the beast at bay and not harm good people but he did however rip apart those of who were bad. This fight within him moved the show along and didn’t sugar coat things with a werewolf who didn’t hurt or kill anyone at all like the creature was a saint or goodie two shoes werewolf or something. Oh no this beast did kill and not just people but other lycanthropes as well that he came across in his quest to rid himself of he thing within him. Yet the Eric wolf don’t just kill just to make a kill, there are many bystanders around him and he will not just rip people apart for fun unlike the evil werewolf will do.

"Werewolf" was the creation of long time TV show producer and writer Frank Lupo who has brought to the airwaves hits like "The A-Team," "Hunter," "Wiseguy" and "Riptide." It is said that Lupo came up with the idea for "Werewolf" when he was in the shower and soon after pitching the shows concept to his long time partner John Ashley the two took the idea to FOX who loved the storylines of the good and bad werewolves. The transformations and make-up for the show were handled by Greg Cannom who turned York and Connors into their lycanthropes and then there were the creatures themselves. They were just stunning even by today’s standards as the complete wolf suits were designed by master monster maker Rick Baker who we all know did the F/X for "An American Werewolf In London and created the Big Foot of "Harry And The Henderson’s" among others. Each wolf sported moveable jaws, ears and eyes giving the creatures some rang of emotion on a low budget and although maybe not as well designed as Harry’s Big Foot for "Werewolf" and it being 80s TV they worked fine enough to pull it off. The fur of the wolf suits were all hand stitched by experts from England who turned Baker’s designs into a reality.

The Eric werewolf was big with brown shaggy hair with a great lion like mane jetting from the things head and down its back. Long Paw like claws for its hands as the beast walked up right and on all fours. The evil Skorzeny wolf was bigger then Eric and was jet black with many of the same features of the other wolf but with longer sharper and nastier teeth and a face that look like the werewolf disease had been eating away at the much older werewolf for many, many years. The two creatures did clash a few times claw to claw with the evil Skorzeny wolf always coming out the victor but these creatures are hard to kill even by one of their own kind. In-fact Lupo’s lycanthropes all were immortal and although Eric hated being what he was on a few episodes he was indeed glad to be so-called cursed when more then one gun toting nut tried to murder him. Yeah these werewolves were real bad asses and in Lupo’s story lines the only why to kill one off was by a silver weapon or bullet or the killing bite of another werewolf.

Lupo’s show also didn’t have the creatures governed by the light of the full moon as in other werewolf films and tales. For his show the transformation was brought on by the impending nightfall and always after the appearance of a pentagram that showed in the soon to be werewolf hand. This was the sign of things to come and as the change neared the circled star would fill with blood giving Eric his warning that the change was soon to be. But it was not until the pentagram began to bleed that triggered to the man to beast transformation and unleashed the creature within him.

One of the things that drew viewers in each week on the shows Saturday and then Sunday night showings was the never ending search for the evil wolf Skorzeny played in his human form by actor Chuck Connors. His hulking one eyed villain was scary as hell even before becoming the monster and was the complete reverse of the good boy Eric’s character. Like things just couldn’t get any worse for the young lycanthrope he has deep voiced actor Lance LeGault as bounty hunter Alamo Joe after him who is obsessed with bringing in Cord dead or alive…human or other. Despite the fact that Connors enjoyed playing Skorzeny he was said to be a pain in the ass on set and was removed from the show early on in the shows run. From then on only his werewolf counter part was used as the character as with the use of body doubles in human form played by look-a-like actors. Later in the series the Skorzeny wolf was at last found and killed by Eric but thinking that the werewolf bloodline was now over and his foe was the first of the line he was sadly wrong and found out that there was an even more evil lycanthrope out there who was the father of them all.

Although the people behind "Werewolf" had big plans for the show like an episode with Eric meeting a vampire and all new transformation effects with a new and better way to turn Eric into his alter ego the show was gone off the air with no and this is rare NO ever reruns shown on FOX ever again. For a spell the USA Network showed the series in reruns on Friday nights in 1989 but then that two ended and the show was never seen here in the states again. It was shown very little outside the U.S. but like here the show vanished into TV land myth with most horror and werewolf fans who grew up after the 80s never seeing it. Oddly enough and I don’t understand this myself it was never brought to the Sci/Fi Channel ever…even though the USA Network owns the Sci/Fi Channel and had the broadcasting rights to the series when they took it over from FOX.

Today "Werewolf" has become something of the Holy Grail when it comes to the lost series and although the show is not being show anywhere in a 1.000 some what cable channels we have today and has never officially been released to video and DVD the show has missed the TV world Grim Reaper by way of true fans who taped the series with VCRs all them years ago. I can only kick my own ass for not keeping the episodes that I taped in 87 but one true fan out there not only taped the whole series from TV 41in Kansas City but now has transferred it all to DVD. Now "Werewolf" (Thank God) with all 29 episodes is making its way around over the internet and showing up at horror and film conventions like "Chiller Theater" where I found mine (Oh Happy Me!).

For us fans of the show who have not seen the series in the past 20 years just or those of you who have never seen it at all just knowing that now there is copies out there floating around should bring us some peace of mind. Now I warn you that the DVDs are not of the best grad when it comes to quality viewing. The old VCR tape transfer to modern day DVD is a little grainy and the sound is ever so slightly off but hell who cares you can watch "Werewolf" again….and anytime you like. What I found enjoyable was since the show was taped form airing of the show by the fan that recorded it there are more then one voice over at the end of the show over the closing credits of promos for the next show coming up such as "Married With Children" and other shows. For me it was like reliving 1987 and 88 all over again.

Sadly when "Werewolf" went off the air Eric Cord still didn’t find a way to end his nightly torment and the show never did try and bring back the "Werewolf" players for a closing movie of the week or something like that. A six issue comic book adaptation based on the series did surface but that too also went the way of the main series and is now also among "Werewolf" fan lore. Maybe some day the powers that be will officially release the series on DVD for the masses and I have heard a biz about the Horror Channel picking up the show but we will see. Still for us long time fans of this past 20 years and counting we have never ever forgotten the show that we so loved and as for the whole series on DVD that I so guard with my life…I have two sets of the series just in case one runs off into the night to hunt.

A Case of Lycanthropy - By Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Ghostwriter

What is Lycanthropy you may ask? According to The American Journal of Psychiatry Vol. 134, No. 10. published in October 1977 it states:

"Lycanthropy, a psychosis in which the patient has delusions of being a wild animal (usually a wolf), has been recorded since antiquity. The Book of Daniel describes King Nebuchadnezzar as suffering from depression that deteriorated over a seven-year period into a frank psychosis at which time he imagined himself a wolf. Among the first medical descriptions were those of Paulus Aegineta during the later days of the Roman Empire. In his description of the symptom complex, Aegineta made reference to Greek mythology in which Zeus turned King Lycaon of Arcadia into a raging wolf. Thereafter, references to lycanthropy appeared in the ancient literature. Many medieval theologians envisioned lycanthropy as a consequence of the evil eye.Delusions of being a wolf or some other feared animal are universal and, although rare in the industrialized countries, still occur in China, India, Africa, and Central and South America. The animals in the delusioned transformation include leopards, lions, elephants, crocodiles, sharks, buffalo, eagles, and serpents.Not infrequently, bizarre and chaotic sexuality is expressed in a primitive way through the lycanthropic symptom complex. Patients whose internal fears exceed their coping mechanisms may externalize them via projection and constitute a serious threat to others. Throughout the ages, such individuals have been feared because of their tendencies to commit bestial acts and were themselves hunted and killed by the populace. Many of these people were paranoid schizophrenics."

Thoughts of werewolf movies may come to your mind from: The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Blood, Bad Moon, The Curse of the Werewolf, Death Moon, Face of the Screaming Werewolf, Teen Wolf, The Wolfman, Project: Metal Beast - DNA Overlord and Ginger Snaps. But, we're not here to talk about good werewolf horror movies, we are here to talk about two real werewolves! Lolita Moonshadow and Katrina Kanine!

I get a call from Lolita Moonshadow and Katrina Kanine. They are self-proclaimed werewolves. What the? Okay Lolita and Katrina, where can I meet you at? We first met at the Avid Reader at Broadway and crossed the street over to Starbucks for a refreshing frappachino. Lolita and Katrina are cousins, they claim to be of Romanian descent. They claim to have a long history of werewolves in their family. I asked them, how do you know you are werewolves, besides the Romanian descent and thinking your family members are werewolves? They said they both crave raw meat. When a dog, cat or a rabbit crosses their paths, they have the urge to 'chase'. They feel domination over men, physically and mentally. When the full moon rises, they feel the urge to hunt. They must suppress their dark desires. They said they have a lot of dark desires within their inner souls.

I asked them to elaborate on their dark desires and they asked me if I ever saw An American Werewolf in London and they left it at that. I pondered...do they have the desire to kill? They both feel they have a chemical imbalance during a full moon, but feel they have everything under control. They both showed me their unusual long canines. I don't know if they were unusually long, or if they stood out more. They said that during a full moon, they get more hair on their arms and legs. They said that they have a keen sense of smell and after they get used to my smell, they would be able to sniff me out a block away.

Katrina took my arm and dug in a bit with her fingernails and looked at me and said..."Paul, I have a hunger!" Okay, okay, just as long as it is not me! We discussed if silver bullets can kill werewolves and they said that a real werewolf can be killed by any bullet, that is a myth. They told me that their eyesight changes over to seeing everything in black and white during a full moon, they feel greater strength and are quite agile. They claim that if they are with their boyfriends during a full moon, their sexual desires are greatly heightened and their boyfriends are not able to handle their wild frenzy. They describe it as throwing a bull carcass in the Amazon river and watching piranhas go into a feeding frenzy. They said that their love life had dwindled, when anytime their lovers discovered the true essence of their beings. They said that last week, their boyfriends left them and they are single again.

At this point of time, I noticed a bead of sweat dripping from my brow. I knew I better end this interview as quickly as I started it. I noticed that Lolita had purchased a werewolf book from Avid Reader. Yes! These girls were truly into lycanthropy. Before, I left, we discussed werewolf sightings in Placerville and the Sierras. They said, that at times they feel a calling for the Sierras to find their brethren. What is so unusual, after I met them, I have been contacted by another werewolf girl in Fremont and I plan to interview her too. She claims that there are werewolf sightings in Antioch. She has a very interesting story to tell also! When I stood up from Starbucks, both were eyeing me strangely and both stood around me, as if they were blocking me from the entrance. Lolita grabbed my shoulder and said..."Paul, remember one thing, doctor up our photo, we do not want to be identified for this article and make sure not to identify us in anyway in this article. We know where you live!" I looked back at Lolita and Katrina and said..."sure, no problem, no problem at all!"

As I left Starbucks, I thought how safer it would be to just hunt ghosts, they don't make threats! Before I close this article, I met Tanya Filer, a clerk at my local Bel-Air and she told me about an abandoned house in Elk Grove that she wants me to investigate. The house has been abandoned for 7 years, because no one will purchase the home, its reputed to be haunted. The story goes that a builder of the house, killed himself with a nail gun. People who have entered the home, claim that the phantom builder looks at them and is holding a nail gun in his hand. Okay, Tanya, where is this house? I am willing and ready to investigate! As I rode home tonight on the lightrail, Julie Surjan a good friend of mine, who knows I am a ghost hunter, had me all hooked on her story. She said, that a strange thing happened to her last night. She was watching TV and saw something at the corner of her eye, it was dark and black. I asked..."was it a shadow person?" She looks at me and laughs..."no, it was a black widow spider! I had the hardest time killing the thing!"

For more on H.P.I. Haunted and Paranormal Investigations of Northern California, go to their website at: www.hpiparanormal.net

For more on H.P.I. Haunted and Paranormal Investigations of Northern California, go to their website at: www.hpiparanormal.net

HPI Chronicles: An American Werewolf in Fremont - The Mundane

Submitted by: Paul Dale Roberts

By Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Ghostwriter

Before I encountered my third werewolf. The first ones being Lolita Moonshadow and Katrina Kanine, in which I have already written about, I will tell you what I did September 30, 2007, Sunday. I went to Nancy Bradley's (Psychic to the Stars) office (called the Haunted Cottage) to film Ghost Girls. I brought paranormal investigator Chris Grissom with me and we met up with the Ghost Girls themselves...Shannon 'Ms. Macabre' McCabe and Nancy Bradley! Nancy and her husband Robert Reppert treated us to a lavish Mexican dinner at Casa Romos Restaurant. Robert Repport, Paranormal Investigator for Gold Rush Ghosts took us to about 5 family cemeteries in Placerville, where we took pictures of Shannon & Nancy at various gravesites for the upcoming DVD 'Ghost Girls'. In one of the cemeteries I turned on my Listen Up - sound enhancer device and picked up a small girl saying 3 inaudible words. Nancy determined it was a small girl named Betty Carlton, age 5 years old. When I was leaving this local Placerville cemetery, it was as if the little phantom girl didn't want me to leave and she said a distinct 'hey!' After we filmed in Nancy's office and I was heading home, Nancy gave me her book 'The Incredible World of Gold Rush Ghosts (The Big Picture) by Nancy Bradley & Robert Reppert and signed it "To Paul, My New Partner in Crime - Blessings to my friend Nancy Bradley 2007." What a sweet lady and I will cherish her book forever! Make sure to pick up the DVD Ghost Girls, for more information, check out Nancy's website at: www.nancybradley.org

Now to the werewolf I was talking about! Meet The Mundane. This is the name that our werewolf girl calls herself. I met her at Starbucks in Vallejo. She drove up from Fremont and I drove down from Sacramento, we met half way. I have never seen The Mundane before, but I was able to spot her out easily. She wore cat ears head band, a pentagram ring and a black T-shirt that read 'Live Animal'. Not hard to find at all. She was busy drawing, this 21 year old girl can draw as good as Boris Vallejo. She displayed some of her wonderful fantasy artwork. This is her story. About 4 years ago, she was bit by a mountain lion while doing voluntary work at the San Diego Zoo. The male mountain lion was playing with her at first and had her arm in his mouth, then he got rough and actually bit her. The Mundane tells me that everyone has an animal spirit within their being and when she got bit, it brought out her wolflike attributes that she was born with. She tells me she even knows a were-moose. When she got bit that day, the essence of the wolf took over her persona. It possessed her. She tells me that she is friends with a were-panther named Cassandra, that has actual bat wings attached to her back. She tells me that it's rare for werewolves to really transform and that she can't transform at all.

The Mundane says that on the energy plane anything is possible and that includes living fire-breathing dragons. She said that she has heightened senses, such as hearing, smell, eyesight and even the sense of touch. She can feel the fluctuations around a person's body. When she became a werewolf, the hairs on her arms became dark. She pulls up her pants leg and displays a whole lot of hair on her legs. The Mundane was born and raised a Catholic, but has embraced the Pagan beliefs. She craves meat, has eaten raw meat, but mostly orders medium rare steaks. During a full moon, her senses sky rocket in intensity. This happens the day before a full moon, during the full moon and after a full moon. Three nights of sensationally heightened senses. She tells me that silver cannot harm her, but she has heard that silver can cause an allergic reaction to some werewolves. She doesn't like to be in enclosed spaces. She lives a normal working life as a hostess at the Olive Garden, she has a boyfriend and her boyfriend is not 'awakened', but he is also a werewolf. None of her relatives are werewolves. She tells me that she believes in the afterlife, she listens to Celtic, country and blues music. She loves to hunt and she will hunt deer with a long bow. She adores animals and will help animals, she has been known to take in stray dogs. Vultures, any bird of prey, ravens and crows follow her around. She is also a 'falconer', she is able to hunt with falcons. She displays no canine teeth. She tells me that she knows a few vampires (energy and physical vampires) and that werewolves and vampires are not mortal enemies as Hollywood would like you to believe. She has gone to a vampire club and she wasn't welcome. This was just the way the club treated her, not because they didn't like werewolves. To pass time, she at times plays Dungeons & Dragons, Masquerade and Werewolf Apocalypse. She tells me how she first learned about HPI, through one of my articles on my scouting mission with Athena Quinn to Sutter's Fort. She is very familiar with Sutter's Fort and the church nearby where we found some EVP evidence. She explains to me that she is a slight empath and that when she lived in Sacramento on 50/Bradshaw, she would hear noises at night and the lights turned on randomly on their own. At her friend's house in Sacramento, there was an explosion heard in the house and when she investigated the explosion with her friend, they discovered a plastic mug had shattered into 5 pieces for no apparent reason. She elaborates more on how she loves animals and fondly talks about her black Labrador retriever named Brutus Maximus. She calls Brutus, her baby. One of the psychic abilities that she has is being able to know when her friends will call her or visit with her, before it happens. Her sixth sense ability seems to be centered on her closest associates. Her favorite movies are Van Helsing, American Werewolf in Paris, she even loved the werewolves that were featured in Harry Potter and Dr. Who. During a full moon, she is more sexually aroused.

Here is the strange part of my interview, I learn that certain entities inhabit her body. They are Isis the Dragon, Dartanian the Raptor (yep, a dinosaur inhabits her body), Thane the Chinese Dragon - Protector of the 4th Tower, Kata the Demon - which is in the form of a black spectral tiger. She has a Phoenix named Moonshadow (no relation to Lolita Moonshadow) that is her guardian. She has learned to write in ancient pagan runes. I got curious and asked her what animal spirit inhabits my body? She said it was a raccoon, because of my journalistic curiosity. Before I left, she asked if HPI could investigate two areas that she has frequented, the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz and some overgrown weed infested cemetery in Fremont. I explained to her that I have been to the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz and found the place....mysterious, especially when balls roll up hill and trees grow to a slant. I have always theorized that The Mystery Spot is a point of origin for a leyline, but that is only my theory. When I visited the Mystery Spot, I also stopped over for a tour of the Winchester Mansion....I love that place!

I will be enclosing drawings that The Mundane showed me, some of the drawings are the entities that inhabit her body, some are drawings of her were friends and some are just drawings from her mind. The white wolf is called Ghost, that is the essence of the wolf that now inhabits her body.

Being a paranormal investigator, I have investigated so many things paranormal, such as a numerologist, psychics, the Wicca culture, werewolves, vampires, UFOs, cults, secret societies, ghosts, possible demon possession and I soon will be investigating the last of the Lemurians at Mt. Shasta, along with Bigfoot. I have always wanted to investigate dopplegangers, incubus, succubus, Mothmen, Men in Black, Reptilians, sea serpents, zombies and anything else considered paranormal. So for the reader reading this article, if you have something unusual you want me to check out, let's say you have a crop circle in your backyard, give me a ring. I will be there in a moment's notice, because stepping into the paranormal is my business. As I headed back to Sacramento, I threw on the song 'Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon' and 'Monster Mash by Bobby 'Boris' Pickett', you know how I like getting into the mood of things!

Special Note: The Mundane would not allow me to take her photograph or use her real name in this article. I am able to display her artwork for this article, digital photographs from her scrapbook.

Have you seen a werewolf

Submitted by: Bloodfinder

Bloodfinder has submitted this story for your enjoyment.

The plague was raging in Europe, and werewolves and Vampires roamed the night looking for clean victims to fulfil their blood-lust. It was in this time that people were fleeing their homes in the towns to avoid the plague. Most took refuge in the Forests, while others in the Transylvanian Alps. It was in this time and these dark and foreboding mountains that a grizzly event took place...

Bala Bideski and his family had fled their home into the mountains as the plague took a firm grip of their town (they were the last to escape, and some would say later that it was unfortunate that they did). Bala, his wife Chelitha, his two sons Christopher and Thengal, and his daughter Tahlia had set up a comfortable home in the forested hills that surrounded the mountains. One day Bala and his two sons (Chris 14 and Thengal 16) were cutting and gathering wood for the fire as it was almost Winter and they'd need a large stock-pile to get through the freezing conditions. Chris had wondered off from his father and was getting closer and closer to the steep incline of the mountains rough surface. He was about to return to his father when he heard the whimpering of what sounded like pups. He moved towards the sound, until he came upon a den in a small clearing. There in the mouth of the den were two beautiful pups, one of which looked strangely human. Chris came close to the pups and picked one of them up. After a while of petting the wolf-pup he put it back on the ground and left the area to find his father and brother.

Lucan

Submitted by: AL J. Vermette

LucanHeart of The Warrior
By
AL J. Vermette

He was part wolf so they say the spawn of a woman and the beast from which she loved. The four legged creature gave her three children. Two were human and one was…something other. They say that this ‘other’ in wishing to feed from his mother’s milk killed his own sister in order to gorge his fill. The surviving child and the beast grew in time and became warriors, one a noblemen to the King and the other a lost soul in search of a life where he only wished to fit in. For this brother his mother gave him the name “Lucan”; and these are his stories.

Click on the following link to download the rest of the story in pdf format:

Werewolf Cafe Birthday Cake

Submitted by: #

Submitted by: The Admin

March 6th was the actual date of The Werewolf Cafe's 2nd birthday, so this cool looking yellow cake with raspberry filling (do we dare say that filling looks like blood?) was enjoyed by Full Moon himself. (Hey Full Moon, how was that cake?)